Monday, August 19, 2013

Week One – Wading into the waters!

After a glorious Sunday (8/4) at
Princeton Theological Seminary with the Montreal Boys Choir Course (see blog
entry of 8/11) , Susan and I spent Monday continuing to bring order out of the
chaos that currently is our home. Our
home in the Hiltonia section of Trenton is a lovely 3 bedroom Colonial home
that is perfect for us and has room for our children and grandchildren when
they visit. There is a large family room
in the back of the house that overlooks what, by our standards, is a huge
backyard.We’re looking forward to
watching the seasons change through these windows.Over our 18 years in Florida we have missed
the seasons.

There were minor glitches in our
move.The refrigerator in the house
didn’t work, so we spent our first week eating all meals out.They now know us well at the Two Peter’s
Diner on North Olden!

View from our family room

Tuesday, August 6 was my first
official day at 808 W. State Street.Before going to the office however, I joined a group of citizens
concerned about the state of things in Trenton, who meet for breakfast every
Tuesday morning at The Sunshine Luncheonette on Warren Street.I was
told it was a smaller group than usual (only three were present), but they
helped give me a sense of things in this struggling city from their perspective
which I found helpful.Needless to say,
with a Mayor under indictment on charges of corruption, a Governor and State
Legislature that refuse to work with that Mayor because of his indictment, things
are very dysfunctional in Trenton which, in 2013, is on the verge of seeing a
record homicide rate.If there ever was
a time for concerned citizens to speak out, this is it!

I arrived at the office just before
9:00 A.M. and was warmly welcomed by staff.It was not long before everyone gathered for Morning Prayer in the small
conference room.This was followed by
some catching up with one another. Bishop Councell had just returned from vacation, so there were stories to hear about his time in Colorado.

Mary
Ann Rhoads, Executive Assistant to the Bishop, had kept Bishop Councell's and my calendars clear
for the first few days. This allowed us time to meet and time for me to be brought up to speed
on life in the diocese and gain some insight about the parishes.We were joined by Canon to the Ordinary,
John Sosnowski, Chief Financial Officer, Phyllis Jones and Canon for
Transitions, Cecilia Alavarez as we began a parish by parish review.I also began to meet with staff one-on-one
to begin building my relationship with them and to hear from them what their
hopes and expectations are for me as bishop and what they feel is vital in the
life of the Diocese of New Jersey.I am most impressed by
diocesan staff and feel they are a great gift to us all.I am sorry that Canon Cynthia McFarland has
not been able to be with us and is stepping down from her responsibilities as
Canon for Communications for medical reasons.We are all keeping her in our prayers.She will continue to serve as Archivist and Historian which is a
blessing to us all.

On Thursday, August 8, I had lunch
with Dean Renè John.There was a brief time when our paths crossed in the Diocese of Long Island, but we did not really know each
other.We began to build a relationship
during the walk-abouts.Now we are becoming
friends as we figure out how we will work together both through the ministry of
Trinity Cathedral and in the wider community of Trenton.I am most grateful for his ministry and
insights and look forward to serving with him.He shared with me that he and his lovely wife Andrea would be away that
weekend so that Andrea would receive her degree from Virginia College, a major
accomplishment!Congratulations,
Andrea!!

Thursday afternoon, I also met with
Canon Linda Moeller who is now the “point person” organizing the Consecration
which is scheduled to take place on November 2. We have been unable to do very
much about this because the consent process needed to be completed.Having now received word that all the
necessary consents have been received, it is full steam ahead.Needless to say, there is a great deal to do
between now and then.Linda’s tremendous
organizational skills will be put to good use.Thanks, Linda!

On Sunday, we worshipped at the
Church of the Atonement under the leadership of The Rev. Jayne Oasin, a
longtime friend with whom I served on the Anti-Racism Committee of the
Episcopal Church.Susan and I are very
much enjoying driving to different parts of the diocese
and discovering new places and new people.The Church of
the Atonement is a small jewel of a church.It is immaculately kept and we received a warm welcome from Jayne and
the members of the parish.Jayne
preached an excellent sermon on faith and fear using the idea of Abraham being
called to go to a place he did not know as her point of departure.Susan and I can identify with that.

with The Rev. Jayne Oasin and Brandon Jones

All in all, my first week was a time to start building relationship and to begin learning about this large diocese and its enormous challenges. It feels great to be on the ground after months of anticipation and to begin wading into the waters!